Game Master's Journey

The PCs reenter the dungeon and finally reach the tomb of the Red Raven. They face their biggest challenge yet.

I get a lot of questions from listeners about worldbuilding and adventure and campaign design. There’s also been quite a bit of interest in my new Star Wars campaign. Today I set off again on the Obsidian Monolith to conclude my discussion of my Edge of the Empire campaign.

There are lots of GMs out there (including myself) who will tell you how you should run your game. Ultimately it's up to you to decide what works best for you and your game. Don't hesitate to blaze your own trail.

Ryan Chaddock joins me on the show today to discuss his 5e Kickstarter, Swans of Black, and the new OGL for D&D.

In this episode of the Primordia campaign actual play, we learn that sometimes the way to deal with undead is to insult and mock them. Things really start to go south, and then they go south some more.

Iorek earns the title Kill Stealer.

The PCs have leveled, so we start out with everyone describing their new abilities and spells. We also have a little bit of general 5e discussion, and then we get on with the adventure. Samson loses part of his soul. Oh well, he wasn’t using it.

This week I use your feedback to revisit the topics of encounter-based versus milestone xp and using random encounters in your game.

Iorek discovers a mysterious door, and things get real as the PCs face their toughest challenge yet.

Today I'm discussing three topics. First, I give my thoughts on awarding experience versus using a milestone method of advancement. I also talk about how I do "random" encounters. Finally I tackle the question, "Should the players always win?"

In this episode of my Primordia campaign, Raith and Azriel get naked, and we ponder whether we've gone astray from our hard core roots.

The PCs battle some scary and gross creatures in The Forgotten Tomb.

The adventures in Primordia continue. The PCs face a horde of zombies within the Forgotten Tomb.

Welcome to the fourth episode in my GM 101 series in which I answer the question, “How do I become a game master?” Today I set off again on the Obsidian Monolith to discuss sandbox versus plot-driven adventures. I also talk about how to get your players invested in your story, and how to find good, quality players online.

The first adventure in Primordia continues, as the PCs enter the Forgotten Tomb.

We begin the first adventure in Primordia. The PCs leave the city of Elandria to investigate rumors of monsters near a Forgotten Tomb.

We continue our discussion of characters, including our fifth PC. We then start with the first scene of the campaign.

We introduce the characters and tell a little about their backgrounds. Dwayne as Iorek, a Tiefling Wild Magic Sorcerer; Nathan as Samson, a Human Order of the Immortal Psion; Steve as Raith, an Eladrin Bladesinger Fighther/Wizard; Kyle as Sprout, a Goliath Nature Cleric of Primordia; and Chrissy as Azriel, an Aasimar Great Old One Warlock.

Nathan and I discuss the psion/mystic class, which he is going to playtest. We talk about how psionics will work in Primordia, and how it will interact with magic. We also discuss his character, Samson, and the Order of the Butterfly. Nathan does a great job of coming up with new lore in the world to support an Order of the Immortal psion. 

Dungeon Master Chris from the Dungeon Master’s Block podcast joins me on the show today to discuss game mastering and worldbuilding.

Today I set off again on the Obsidian Monolith to respond to your feedback and do my best to answer your questions about game mastering. These questions inculde: How do I control the pacing of my game? How do I make session notes that are easy to reference during play? How do I make published adventures not feel like a railroad? How do I make combat fast and interesting without feeling like a sepa...

Today I set off again on the Obsidian Monolith to answer the question, “How do I become a game master?” In the second of my series of GM 101 episodes, I respond to your feedback and do my best to answer your questions about game mastering. I discuss session zero, speeding up and slowing down combats, when to house rule (and when not to), worldbuilding and thinking on your feet.

Running a game requires a lot of creativity and thinking on your feet. So what do you do when you’re out of ideas? Today I set off again on the Obsidian Monolith to share three resources that can help you out when your creative well has run dry. These products can be invaluable to you during your prep, and even during play.

For a show about game mastering, there are precious few episodes about how to BE a game master. That ends now. Today I set off again on the Obsidian Monolith to answer the question, “How do I become a game master?” In this first of my series of GM 101 episodes, I will do my best to share what I’ve learned in my over 20 years of experience as a game master.

John Marvin of Dread Unicorn Games joins me on the show today to discuss the art of game mastering. We discuss his recent series of blog post articles in which he unpacks the instant adventure format for designing and running adventures. We also talk about third party publishing in RPGs and John’s upcoming 13th Age supplement, Gods and Icons.